Appeals Court Upholds Rule Relaxing Short-Term Plan Restrictions
Health Affairs July 19, 2020
On July 17, 2020, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, by a vote of 2-1, upheld a Trump-era rule that dramatically expanded access to short-term, limited duration insurance (STLDI). The majority rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments that the short-term plan rule is contrary to Congress’s intent in adopting the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and an unreasonable interpretation in light of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Like the district court, the DC Circuit points to the history of the definition of STLDI. Congress delegated authority to the federal government to define STLDI under HIPAA in 1996, and the duration was defined as up to 12 months for nearly two decades—from 1997 through 2016. The ACA did...